"Earthen vessels" - Hope for the Mentally Ill

One of God’s great gifts to the English-speaking world has been the Christian publishing trust known as The Banner of Truth. For over fifty years, they have been achieving their goal of “Biblical Christianity through literature.” One of their trademarks has been the attractive re-issue of old, otherwise hard-to-find books by men that the contemporary world has largely forgotten (but shouldn’t have!). Because of the Banner’s hard work and commitment to the wisdom of the former ages, modern readers can bathe in the wisdom of the Puritans, benefit from the beautiful simplicity of J.C. Ryle, read the sermons of Whitefield and M’Cheyne, get to know Spurgeon, set sail with John Newton, and so on!

One of Banner’s recent re-issues is a classic book called The Atonement, originally published in 1870 by a Scotsman called Hugh Martin. In the foreward (written by John and Sinclair Ferguson, and printed as a separate article in the October 2013 issue of The Banner of Truth magazine), one can read about Martin as “a thinker of extraordinary penetration and great power”; one “whose works … every Christian should possess and read carefully.” His writing is described as “a powerful, original, compelling, sometimes blazing light and gospel logic.” He is lauded for the interpretive freshness with which he approached the Bible, never leaving his readers bored! I wish those things were said of my preaching and writing!

In short, Hugh Martin was a great man, a gifted thinker, and a tremendous blessing to the Christian church!

But then, in the midst of the Fergusons’ foreward, one also reads this startling fact: Some time in his late 30’s (just maybe 2-3 years older than me), Martin “became mentally incapacitated for the duties of his office.”* We then learn that, in 1865 (only in his early 40’s), Martin’s struggles finally necessitated permanent retirement from his pastorate … and that he died 20 years later, having spent his final two years in an asylum.

O, how sad it made me to read of this marvelous man being so mentally debilitated! My heart aches to think of the great theologian, bent double by fears, or delusions, or anxieties, or whatever it may have been that he just could not fully overcome. But Martin’s story also gives me hope! Because Martin published his classic book on The Atonement in 1870 – five years after he had to retire from his pulpit due to mental illness! I suspect that he was probably, in many ways, still a broken man. Perhaps the clouds had cleared for a season, but the mental struggles evidently weren’t completely gone (since he didn’t go back to a pastorate, and eventually died in an asylum). But in the midst of whatever it was that plagued his mind so heavily, Hugh Martin was yet able, by God’s grace, to be useful in the Lord’s work … and even to continue writing “powerful, original, compelling, sometimes blazing light” kinds of words about his Lord Jesus! And that gives me great hope that God can use me, with all my foibles and quirks.

I’ve recently had occasion to hear the stories of several Christian men (a few of them in the ministry) who have suffered significant mental or emotional breakdowns. And it seems (and is!) so tragic in so many ways. The world, and mankind in God’s image, were not intended for this kind of suffering. And yet, fallen and cursed as we and our planet are, there will always be Hugh Martin’s in this life, even among God’s elect – those who struggle mightily to keep their sanity together. And yet God can use them! Through the brokenness of the “earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4.7), the light of Christ can and does still shine through! And therefore our modern-day Hugh Martins are not finished yet! And, if you are reading this, having struggled with mental or emotional breakdown, you are not finished yet!

Incapacitated for his work as a gospel minister, Hugh Martin was still ministering the gospel; still sitting in his study, glorying in Christ … and writing gloriously about Him! I don’t know the details of his struggle, but I wonder if there may have been many days when Martin was fretful, paranoid, or just incredibly fearful of the kinds of who-knows-what that plagues many people in his shoes. But he still reveled in Jesus! In fact, maybe it was the reveling in (and writing about) Jesus which kept him sane enough to keep doing so! But whatever the case, God was not finished with Mr. Martin, even when he came to the end of his own rope!

In 2005, John Piper wrote an excellent piece on Alexander Cruden, another mentally sick man whom God used extraordinarily. And here is what Piper says by way of lesson from Cruden’s life:

What encourages me about this is to realize that God’s ways are strange. And in this strangeness, sinful and sick and broken people fit into God’s designs. He has purposes for the mentally ill and for the emotionally unstable and for the socially maladjusted. And he has purposes for you.^

So take heart, you who cannot seem to hold yourself together. And take heart, you who love those who can’t. As the Fergusons remind us, “The glory of the gospel is indeed contained in jars of clay.”#

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*Quoted by the Fergusons from the Proceedings and debates of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (1881), p.46, under the heading ‘Dr Hugh Martin.’
^From the “The Good, Insane Concordance Maker” at desiringgod.org.
#For "jars of clay" see 2 Corinthians 4.7 (ESV).

Gospel Letters

When I first set out in Christian ministry, I never intended to be a writer. I find it far too easy to run my mouth to have ever dreamed of making much use of my pen! So I never thought I’d maintain a blog. Never imagined I’d ever write a sermon out in full manuscript form. Certainly never believed I’d publish a book or even a tract. In fact, I can remember driving down the highway, during our engagement, telling Tobey to stop me cold if I ever got the hair-brained idea to write a Christian book! She obviously did not obey! And, over time, I have found that the pen (or keyboard) can be a mighty tool in God’s hand.

Specifically, this week, I am reminded of what a blessing hand-written letters can be. 

Very few of us receive them anymore, do we? Almost everything is in typeface these days, even when it does come via snail mail. So, when someone has taken the time to write something by hand, it comes into our mailbox as a kind of quaint surprise … and we tend to be much more eager to read such surprises! And that gets me thinking about our friends, and family, and co-workers who need to hear the gospel. Hopefully we look for opportunities to give verbal witness. Surely it is also imperative that our behavior shines forth a living testimony, too. But I wonder if you’ve ever thought to take up your pen and share the news about Jesus in the form of a letter. I think it can be one of our greatest gospel outlets – the old-fashioned, hand-written letter!

For one thing, conveying the gospel by means of letters is thoroughly biblical (see Romans-Jude in the New Testament!). Further, as I already mentioned, your friend or co-worker will be much more likely to take the time to read your letter if you have taken the time to write it out in long-hand. Moreover, some of us tend to be able to put our thoughts together a little more clearly (and perhaps calmly) on paper … making for a more coherent witness. Also, letters can be read and re-read … so that the gospel has opportunity to sink in over and over again. And finally, a hand-written letter communicates seriousness, care, and even love. Isn’t that so? I dare say that words written out with pen and ink (and on a nice sheet of paper!) carry twice as much weight as the very same words printed on copy paper in Times New Roman font. The effect is probably quadrupled in comparison to electronic communication! There is just something about your own unique hand-writing (poor as your penmanship may be!) that says to the recipient of your letter: ‘I really care about you.’

So try it out, this letter-writing thing. Is there someone with whom you’ve been wanting to share Jesus, but have been unable? Perhaps a thoughtful, peaceful letter (with an invitation to speak further) is the solution. Or maybe there is a list of people who are already expecting to receive some sort of hand-written communication from you this Christmas. Why not replace that Christmas card with a little longer letter, explaining why you so love the baby in the manger? Think also about prisoners, folks in the retirement home, soldiers on deployment, and students away at school – all of whom would love a thoughtful letter from someone who obviously cares. How open they might be if such a kind, personal communication brought with it a reminder of Jesus and His love?

Let us continue to speak the gospel, to be sure. And let us never fail to adorn the gospel with our lives. But let us also ask the Lord if He might help us, like Paul, to write the gospel, too.